My Emotive Adjust
by The Outsiders EXPERT-101
Summary: Beloved memories of a reckless young teen come flowing back to him after he's gotten into a car accident- The Curtis's have gone through a lot- could Soda change that? Dedicated to BellaVision- Hope you like it!
1. Drifting to the Old Memories

"Hey hon, do you know where the keys are?" I shouted impatiently- my voice seemed to echo throughout the house, and it was pretty early, but I didn't have time to worry about the parts of my family that weren't already awake. I had already looked through all the dresser drawers by the door and it wasn't there.

"No, did you look in the white dresser?" she called back. I could hear faint popping and sizzling from the kitchen, though the kitchen was closed off from the front door. _Whoever created this house must've been an exceptionally weird person, _I thought randomly. I got a little frustrated knowing I had already checked it over and over again. I balled my hands into fists to keep my head right where it was.

"What about your jacket pockets?" she shouted again. I ran my hands through my jacket pockets, my eyes going a little wide in the hopes that maybe I'd find them and I wouldn't be late to work and I would get New Years Eve off this year. Finding them all empty, save it be crumbs and old bubble gum wrappers that were twisted into abstract shapes, I sighed, feeling that spark of fake hope I had created for myself drift away, and started searching through all the coats hanging on the wooden rack by the window.

"Didya find anything yet?" I pursed my lips and narrowed my eyes on the openings of each pocket I searched through, knowing that in a surety seeing was trusted more than feeling- Darry told me that everytime I had lost the bills we had to pay off and he had forgotten what the amount was... But that was before... I bit my lip, suppressing the second most saddest memory in my entire lifetime. My face lit up as my hands came into contact with shockingly cold metal that had jagged edges on one side and was smooth and straight on the other.

"Found 'em!" I cried out happily, praising myself internally for my small win. I took my hand out and grinned mischiveously at the rusted keys that clinked against each other in my hand. I turned around to see Cherry coming out of the kitchen door wiping her hands on her dark-blue cuffed jeans; she gave me a relieved look and smiled. Her hair was swept up in a neat bun, shaping her fragile gorgeous face- she was still so beautifully thin, and that snug yellow t-shirt didn't help push down my raging feelings for her. Gosh, she was still so pretty. When she walked up we shared a small kiss and she looked up at me with her bright green eyes.

"Have a good day at work, babe," she whispered. I could feel her warm breath hit my face in the most comforting way, and I helplessly lost myself in her once more... Don't know how she does it, but she always manages to capture me with her most youthful and soft essence of beauty. I pressed my lips against her head softly, feeling more than satisfied with the fact that she was all mine and she would forever be mine...

"Make sure that Steven does his homework when he gets home," I said firmly, holding her in my arms a little while longer, squeezing a bit harder, little by little. _Steven really needs to know that school comes first- then friends. _Why do I have to go to work today? Why couldn't I stay home with my lovely wife and family and just relax...?

"What makes you think I don't do my homework?" I heard Steven yell out in defense as he walked straightway around the corner, pulling on a blue and white plaid shirt with a little complication. I gave him a stern look but had to smile. Man, had Steven grew- he was so tall now, almost as tall as I was when I was sixteen. I laughed and shook my head. I remembered when he was still a playful little red-headed tot still learning how to work the toilet... Enjoying himself with figuring it all out.

"I happen to get very good grades at school, dad- I even have a B in Algebra!" he sounded almost sure of himself. Cocksure, in fact. I checked- he only got a B-; he can't keep everything from his parents. No, no, he was too young to be able to do that.

Steven walked up to me while rolling his sleeves up, revealing those proud muscles he spent all of freshman year getting in football, and for a second, he flexed them for me and Cherry just to get us to smile- it didn't take that long for us to do so. He could make just about everyone smile with just a straw and a piece of paper. I observed that he had actually taken the time to shave, which isn't very often since everyone says he looks like some god-like leprechaun who brings good luck and gets all the girls in class (at least that's how he says it) when he doesn't - he prized that feeling; he has Cherry's fiery red hair(that curled around his ears and kept to itself in a very boyish shape around his head), and my amazingly good looks(that stood out to about everyone he met), with the most gentle of green eyes. I guess he was lovin' the fact that he had two fantastic looking parents, and he just happened to get the good part of the both of us. He gave me a big hug and I rubbed his back gently.

"bye dad..." he said softly. Something in his voice reminded me of Ponyboy...

"Bye Steven... Make good choices today..." I heard him snicker and let go of him for a second and looked at him seriously. He rolled his eyes and nodded.

"Yeah, okay... whatever dad..." I patted his shoulder, feeling a somewhat satisfied feeling. Teenagers these days just don't do what they're supposed to be doing... I suddenly started remembering back when I was a rambuctious and reckless teen... But I had a reason to be! ADHD only has so many limits- though I guess, it wasn't that good of a reason, I still did a lot of things that I stand not to be proud of today. I was glad Steven didn't get that from me though- the ADHD part; he got his mother's reasonable and patient brain, and it showed quite visibly.

"Bye!" I cried out before pulling the creaky door shut. I breathed in the cold fresh air through my nostrils and let out a foggy sigh. It was a beautiful fall morning. The gloomy grey skies could've been done without, but I couldn't control that. Besides, the crisp autumn leaves were covered with a beautifully thin layer of frost which took away from the rusty colored clouds in the sky. I exhaled again, purposefully this time, just to see the fog form, dance, then rapidly dissapear in the air once more. I loved the fog...

_"You know, not many people like the fog, but they don't take the time to look at its many beauties... it can soften the edges of beautiful scenery and only makes the snow look even more brilliant when it comes..."_

I smiled. Ponyboy had told me that the christmas after Steve's 18th birthday. I always admired Ponyboy's perspective on the world. I don't think he knew, nor knows now, that the whole world longed to see itself the way he sees it.

I opened the door to the forest green VW fastback sitting in our driveway and quickly hopped in. It felt like it was ten times colder than outside, but after I had turned the heater on I knew I was going to be okay- I just needed to wait a few minutes befores pulling out. Driving on the way to work, which wasn't that far away, but still pretty far, my thoughts drifted back to my old life.

_"Did you know that if you look closely to a cloud, you can see it's silver-lining?" Pony said in a soft, detached voice. I looked at him like he was crazy._

_"You're weird, Ponyboy..." Steve spoke my thoughts, stuffing his face with chocolate and downing a bottle of Coke. What a pig..._

_"That's nice Pony... Where'd you learn that?" I asked, a little interested in why Pony chose now to talk about such a light-hearted subject. He smiled._

_"I found out by myself..."_

_"You lie... Clouds don't have silver-lining..." Steve smirked, crumpling up his trash and throwing it to a nearby bin sitting at the edge of the parking lot, missing it, and undoubtedly, not bothering to pick it up and throw it away properly._

_"Not if you don't believe that they do..." hmmmm...I had to think about that for a second._

I always thought Ponyboy was crazy for wondering about such silly things. Greasers don't think about things... They thought about a lot of things, but clouds and colors and stuff wasn't one of them; it never was one of them- not even on the waiting list to BE one of them. But now that I'm older, I feel as if I didn't listen to him like I should've. I promised mom and dad I'd do whatever it was necessary to take care of Ponyboy... but one of those things was to listen to him and acknowledge him in his thoughts-

All of a sudden I felt the car jerk forward and come to a sudden halt that seemed a little lower than the ground had been before;a roaring sound bellowed beneath me followed by the scattered clicking noises that seemed spread throughtout the whole car. I could see blackish-greyish smoke from the hood of the car mixing in with the misty air of the cold around it, rushing up towards the heavens, as if it was a race or something. There was an unbearable pain in my side and I quickly reached to open the car door- which was jammed halfway through its entirety- but thank goodness I was able to get out. I felt like my breath was slowly getting more and more restricted- and I needed that excess air badly. I started to get coughing fits and tried to call out for someone to call help, not being able to get anything past a small sound that faltered in the heavy darkness that started to form around my head.

That was when I saw a bright white light coming out of the hole my car had abruptly fallen down through; time seemed to slow down to what felt like almost 77% slower than it was- the second hand on my watch no longer moved rythmically in a circle like it should be. I was starting to get confused and crawled to the small light to get a closer look- don't think I was forgetting about the fact that without a doubt I was dying. But my curious mind had to be put to rest. So as soon as I got to the ditch there he was...

Ponyboy was standing underneath a small tree still in bloom with white buds forming spontaneously on each branch; small beams of a summer sun were softly lighting up his complexion- was that the lot I saw in the background? He was looking up toward the sky with a thoughtful look on his face. He seemed so peaceful...

My lungs seemed to cave in, within every second I knelt there staring at my fondest baby brother- my only YOUNGER brother. I gasped, somewhere in the back of my mind I was begging to be relieved of it all... But I couldn't stop staring at my baby brother as he made notes in a small composition by his side of something...

He seemed to be interrupted by something and then looked at me, not having the slightest clue as to why I would be watching him and smiled, giving me a small wave of the hand- he looked so young, could that really be him? His eyes were so soft and he couldn't have been older than fourteen! I felt my eyes flutter closed and reluctantly slipped into unconsciousness.


	2. Blast from the Past

**As crazy and impossible as it sounded- I think I may have found myself in the past.**

I woke up, my side in excrutiating pain, my mind in the thickest fog it's ever been in, and I was moaning; involuntarily, of course. The ground felt warm but hard.

"Sir- sir are you alright?" I heard a vaguely familiar voice ask in shock. I made a needed effort to lie on my back, making the pain even worse, and cried out. A hand touched my shoulder lightly.

"Pony- what's going on?" a second voice came into play almost automatically. _Pony? _I thought, feeling confused. _Wow, that crash must've did me in real good... No way Pony could sound like that... Not at the age he is now at least..._

"I don't know- this man hurt himself real bad- we gotta help him!"

"Well- you don't know who it is-"

"Yeah..."

"And he hurt _himself_?"

"Yup... with your car..."

"MY CAR?"

"uh-huh..."

"And you think we should be helping him!" the voice sounded real indignant. I couldn't understand who was talking- but both voices seemed so familiar it was starting to creep me out.

"Yeah, I think we should! C'mon, Steve, we got to- look at him!"

"Ugh... fine... You pick him up at that end and I'll hold by the arms," the second young voice said dryly. _Gee, if you don't want to help then don't help! Leave me here to die and live with the guilt of letting some poor innocent man die on the streets! _I thought, feeling a little angry. Where had I heard the name Steve before? ...

"...Where am I?..." I tried to say- not getting much of it out, but enough so that the two young gentlemen would understand that I was still thinking a little clearly.

"Hey! He's talking!"

"Hey- mister- sir- DUDE SIR, uh, GUY PERSON- whoever you are!" one of them said getting himself a little frustrated.

"My- my name- my name's-" I couldn't get it out- my tongue felt parched- with a capital P.

"It's okay, sir we got you... Just uh wait here a sec and I'll go and get my brothers! They're off work today so we should be back in 5 minutes if not sooner!" the first voice exclaimed before running off. I opened my eyes. Everything was blurry. I could faintly see a young hoodlum looking teenager kneeling in front of me- staring. I looked down and saw blood coming from my side.

"Wow- you must've done something real nasty to get that!" he said in a pretend surprise and sarcastic voice. I looked around, dismissing his rude behavior. _As long as my Steven's not like that, I'm dandy ok with this young man not taking a liking to me... _

"Where am I? Where's my car?" I got up and crawled forward, looking around to see if I could see my car or anyone I knew. "Where's my wife-Cherry- Steven-"

"Hey um, dude, you may wanna sit down, with a gash like that, I wouldn't wanna be movin' around too much, not 'til Dar and Pone show," the teenager said slowly, sounding a little suspicous, helping me sit back down and lean against the fence. The sun was burning brighter than ever in the sky. _Noon?_ I thought confused. _It can't be, I left at 7! _At least I'm getting warmer.

"What's going on?" I asked, this time sounding a whole lot more puzzled than ever. My vision had mostly cleared up by then. I turned to the strange teenager who, telling by his voice, seemed doubtful about helping me. But when I looked at him I couldn't believe my eyes. I stood and stared in utter shock, speechless.

There, dressed in his blue DX station shirt with his hat tipped off a little on top of his curly thick brown hair, giving me an uncomfortable look with a young pair of big blue eyes and a clear, worry-free face, was Steve; that's right. Steve. But it wasn't the older one I knew- it was a seventeen year old one- the one that burned so many memories in my head when I was seventeen too.

"Steve...?" I said softly. His eyes went wide; his brow furrowed.

"How do you know my name?" he asked, getting a little defensive about it. I looked down rubbed my eyes and then looked at him again.

"Um... I, uh... I... uh... I knew your mother..." I said quickly, not wanting him to know that it was really me- his best friend in the entire world. He then looked pained and turned away closing his eyes tightly, making his fist into a tight white ball. _Glory- wrong move! _I started beating myself up.

"How?" his voice was harder than anything- demanding in a desperate and unsure tone. I had never heard him like that before...

"Oh well... Your mom and I... we... knew each other... Uh, back in our high school years..." I stuttered, trying to sit upright; _gee, I suck at lying... _I thought. He looked up at me and gave me a cold glare.

"Well, she's dead now so you aint got no business with me or my father..." he said bitterly.

"Actually-" I was about to say something all of a sudden there was pounding feet and I looked finding myself completely even moreso shocked- Darry, Pony, and ME came running in- Darry had a kit in his hand. Johnny and Dally followed.

"See- told you!" Ponyboy turned to the Soda that wasn't me and smirked a little.

"Hey, sir, I'm real sorry we're a little late but we're here now and I may reccommend you go to a hospital after this because I, sir, am no doctor!" Darry said, a small smile on the corner of his lips towards the last part of his speech. I had to smile too. It felt real good to see Darry again... Haven't seen him in a long time...

"Oh, no worries, D-", I thought for a moment, "-I mean,uh, young man. You boys are a very nice looking group of teenagers, who do take the time to help an old man like myself," I said, deepening my voice a little so that they couldn't detect hints of the younger Soda's voice in mine. I mean after all we are the same person... just at a bit of an age difference... Ha! It felt good to know I had unknowingly complimented the gang.

Darry smiled and Ponyboy did too.

"You don't look _that _old-" I could tell Pony was starting to say but he stopped. _What does that mean?_ I thought a little hurt.

"Our pleasure- sir, okay we're just gonna need you to just, lift your shirt and-" as I followed Darry's orders, watching them all give me looks of disgust, I couldn't help but stare at him with admiration- Darry had so much vigor and strength, even after mom and dad's death. It seemed so much, to me, that for a time, he was never happy; because he never got what he wanted- what he deserved for doing so much for the people who cared about him. But to see him here doing this, looking back on all the memories I had of him and me and Ponyboy and the gang, I realized that he _was_ happy.. he was happy right where he was because, well, he was surrounded by all the people _he_ cared for... And that was the only thing he ever wanted. The only thing he ever needed.

"That should do it sir!" he said with finality, sitting up and packing up the rest of the gauze he hadn't used on me. I looked down and mentally made a note to myself that I should at least thank him.

"Thank you, son," I replied. Darry was a good person, I just wish that I could've done something good for him. He got up and helped me up.

"So you're a grown man-" Steve continued nonchalantly. I nodded.

"So how in the world did you hurt yourself on my car?" he asked defensively. Good, wound up little Stevie. I thought for a moment.

"I don't know, young man... Got run over or something..."

"Not to be rude or anything sir, but the car was parked..." Pony said slowly; Leave it to good 'ol Pony to say that. I felt embarrassed as the gang tried holding back fits of laughter.

"Well, to be honest, my good fellows, I really don't remember what happened," I stated. Pony nodded. "But, you saw me, didn't you?"

Pony seemed a little surprised. "Well... Yeah..." he looked down at a small bug running across the sidewalk and kept his glance there.

"Could you tell me what happened?" the gang all turned to Pony now, waiting silently.

"Well, m-mister... You kinda just... I dunno... All I know is that you... well, when you saw me you just kinda ran... like I was your long lost brother or something... and you ran into Steve's car and tore yourself up on that little thing Steve always puts on the hood..." Pony stuttered.

"Nice goin' Steve!" I heard Two-Bit chuckle. I could understand- Ponyboy I mean. He never was good around strangers... Especially when explaining how the stranger had hurt himself.

"Ah..." I observed. Snickers.

"Wow... so in a sense you got run over by a parked car!" Two-Bit howled with laughter. I rolled my eyes. _Didn't the moron ever stop making comments?_

"Shut your trap, Two-Bit!" I heard Darry hiss. Dally punched him in the gut for Darry. I laughed. _Darry'll always stick up for me... it's his innate ability to stick up for anyone when the situation presents itself._

"No, boys it's alright... I have a friend who said a lot of stuff like your friend here!" I told them. Two-Bit didn't know I just told him that he was my friend and that we knew each other and he knows that but not me because the me he knows wasn't me in that time in fact the me he knew was next to him but it's still me, you know? _( A/N HA! Say what?)_

"We apologize... to tell you the truth, he's a little ripped right now... So, our apologies..." Soda told me firmly, slapping Two-Bit's hand away when he started patting him on the back unsteadily. Man, did I really look that good back then? Sure I was vain, but seriously... It's kind of nice to see what I look like without looking in the mirror everytime I got the chance!

"Well, just go easy on your intake, too much can do a lot of wrong things for you..." I said seriously. Two-Bit just rolled his eyes, like he always does.

"Roger that, mister!" he saluted me goofily and burst into laughter once more. I smiled. Darry and Pony sighed in unison and Pony shook his head; Darry was pinching the bridge of his nose to keep his rage from coming out on old cocky Two-Bit.

* * *

We had gotten to our house- well their house, since it was in their time not mine- in record time and they had me sit down and rest up.

"Im sorry, sir, we don't got much, but would you like something to eat while we call your- uh- family or something?" Soda asked a little confused. I shook my head; I knew they didn't have much.

"I'm fine, thank you..."

"Suit yourself!" Steve's voice was slurred by the large amounts of gum he was chewing on, as he dropped onto the couch getting comfortable. I just stood there and stared at him. _Man, I forgot how insensible Steve could be..._

"Now that's just rude..." Johnny said in a quiet disappointed voice; I don't think he was planning on being heard. But, man did it feel good to hear him speak.

"HA! You wouldn't know what rude was if it slapped you in the face..." Two-Bit burst out into yet another fit of chuckles. As Soda came in, hearing Two-Bit's unneccessary comment, we both had muttered 'glory!...' in the same tone at the exact same time. I froze, hoping that he wouldn't get as suspicious as Steve did. _Wait? It's me! I don't pay attention unless it happens more than twice! _I thought reassuringly. And, to prove my theory even moreso correct, Soda just laughed it off.

"Of course you'd say that..." Pony mumbled beneath his breath.

"I think I'm learning more about this young man in the not-even twenty minutes that I've been here than I've learned about my youngest son in all his six years of living!" I cried out- course, I had to say that, I already knew Two-Bit was like that, I just hadn't been around that kind of Two-Bit since he got married. Ponyboy smiled and slapped Two-Bit on the back playfully.

"Yeah, because his life is just that interesting!" he said sarcastically. Two-Bit took a swing at him, but luckily for my baby brother he got away.

"MY LIFE IS INTERESTING!" he called out after Ponyboy. _No it aint... _I thought humerously.

"No it aint!" Steve spat. _HA! Told you... This is why me and Steve are friends!_

"Shut it, Randle..." Two-Bit growled. Steve sat up, putting his guard up.

"You wanna go, Matthews?"

"And if you mean by 'go' you mean to the championships by winning this petty fight you're displaying then yeah- I WANNA GO REAL BAD!" he hooted. It took a lot to make me not laugh out loud; I was _supposed_ to be the adult here; me and Darry. And Darry wasn't here at the moment- not in the front anyways.

"Okay, okay, don't go all hunkey dorey on each other!" I cried out gesturing for them to stop. And saying what I just said, it got them to stop real quick. They were both getting red in the face and immediately took their hands off each other.

"Who you calling hunkey-"

"- and speaking of the Dorey part, my good sir-" They got away from each other real fast. I only shook my head, smiling.

"Teens these days... You know back in my day-" I began.

"OH GLORY!"

"Here we go again-!" I couldn't help but burst into more laughter. Being back with my gang, the way they were before, helped bring me out of the pain from the embarassing wound I had recieved.

"You know, someday... You'll tell your kids-" Steve interrupted me.

"Who said anything about kids in my future-"

"AINT NO GIRL GONNA TIE THIS WOLF DOWN!" Two-Bit howled. I hadn't realized that Ponyboy had walked in by then.

"Shut it, you two! Ya'll are probably bothering this poor man to death!" _Ha! That's the least of your problems, baby bro... _I thought, thinking about the bad influences Two-Bit and Steve- eh, throw good ol' Dal in there too- had on our small and compact little family.

"Your friends have kept me entertained quite well throughout my stay here..." I said happily. Pony nodded, getting somewhat more of a relaxed look. Then he pulled up a chair and pulled out a piece of paper and pen.

"So, sir, umm, my brother asked me to write down a couple of your answers- nothing , uh, personal but... so we can give it to the doctor when we drop you off there- at the, the, uh, hospital..."

"Kid?"

"Yeah?"

"You know you don't need to be nervous around me, just ask those questions and I'll answer them as clearly as I can so you can hear me!" I said reassuringly. Pony, again, nodded.

"What's your name?" _Glory... _I thought; I could feel panic start to rise as I scrambled to find the solution to my sticky situation.

"Uh..." Pony gave me a small look of concern. _Glory, Pony, stop staring it's rude... _I thought absentmindedly, getting a little frustrated at myself.

"Okay, we can go to the next question, then..." Ponyboy said in a small voice. _Stupid, STUPID! _I started kicking myself for not having to come up with a better answer.

"Where do you live?" _Have mercy on my soul! _I bit my lip.

"Sir, do you remember ANYTHING?" _Right when I thought I had something good to say-_

"He did try to tell me his name back after his little incident-" Steve smirked. _Aw you're just pissed off because I told you I knew your mother! _I thought grumpily.

"No, no... I'm pretty sure I remember something..." I said slowly. I thought long and hard for a minute. How was I going to solve this? How in this freaking world am I going to solve THIS?

"I remember..." Pony got a little hopeful, sitting up straight once more in his seat and waiting for me to finish so he could write something worth salvaging for the doctor. I faltered. "... nothing." we both sighed heavily, and I leaned my head against one hand while crossing the other one on my lap. _If only I could tell you who I really was, Pone... _I had almost convinced myself to tell them all who I really was but Darry walked in right about then. I tried to keep my deafeated face on and not tell Darry the automatic thing I always told him when he walked into the room.

"HEY DAR, HOWS THE WEATHER UP THERE, huh, big buddy?" I heard the other Soda chime in as he ran in and tripped over the edge of the chair I was sitting in.

"Oh, young man, I'm very sorry-" I got down to the floor to help him get back up, but he turned my help down, dusting himself off, laughing even harder.

'Naw, that was my fault, sorry!" he said good-naturedly getting up, and helping me get up and get back into the armchair.

"You're a turd..." Steve said in a flat voice. Soda rolled his eyes at him.

"No he's not! He's a lazy bum, and a clumsy one at that!" Pony restated Steve's statement.

"Aw, c'mon, buds! Aren't we all lazy, clumsy"- he turned towards Steve-"turdy bums at one point in our lives? Aren't we?" Soda pumped his fist into the air and scrambled into the kitchen.

"Thanks for that, enlightening, pep talk..." Darry sighed in a frustrated tone. I sighed.

"You know, the kid has spaz, I'll give him that!" I said observantly. It got everyone to laugh.

"HEY SODA! Scratch that! You're now a SPAZZY lazy clumsy-" Steve's voice trailed off as he went into the kitchen to finish off his statement. We all shook our heads.

"You know, sir, I'm real sorry- these no-good lunatics love to entertain guests..." Darry muttered helping me up to get into the car. I put a firm hand on his shoulder and shook my head.

"I can do it myself, son, thank you very much- already done so much for me..." I said as I opened up the door.

"DARRY!" Pony called. I swiveled on my feet.

"Yeah, what?"

"He doesn't remember who he is- where he lives, nothing!" I could tell Pony was worried about me, though I was a perfect stranger to him.

"Oh..." Darry looked at me, furrowing his brow a little more. "huh, this is something knew..."

"It's fine-" I pulled out my wallet, and handed Darry a fifty dollar bill- Goodness knows what he's going to do with it. They all stopped, their mouths dropping open.

"What the h-?" Steve squeaked. I got my coat on and snuck out the door so that no one would hear me. I smiled. _You deserve it, Dar..._

I could hear the cracked shuffle of my feet dragging on the floor from a small limp I still had; it was quite warm outside, pretty relaxing really, but I started to shiver from not knowing what to do next- where to go next. I was home; the home I longed to be in ever since- I suppressed the depressing thought once more. _This has got to be a dream!_ I thought quickly. And someday you'll have to wake up from it, whether you want to or not.


	3. Finding Company

The sun burned in the mid noon sky, softly lighting up the busy streets, intensifying the smell of gas pollution lingering in the air as red lights turn green and teenagers walk down the streets smoking and laughing. It brought back so many breath-taking memories; my teenage years were the best in my entire lifetime, before I got to raise a family, of course. Walking down North St., I saw Carter's Place, the local video and magazine store that I used to go to all the time whenever Ponyboy was at school and I had the day off; I smiled- that was where me and Sandy first met.

__

"Hi, can you tell me where-" I stopped as the girl turned around and gave me a look probably similar to mine. As I blinked I relaxed into an assuring smile, and that sudden urge and need to attract her to me became stronger deep down inside- I realized I had to have her. This feeling most often happened around every good-looking girl, especially with boys around my age who were handsomer than anything; but this one was different and the pull was something I had never experienced before in all my fifteen, almost sixteen, years of living.

"Um... Hi..." she smiled too; glory, it was probably the most beautiful thing I had seen since I woke up this morning and showered. Her hair was a soft blonde that was neatly pulled back into a ponytail, curling slightly at the end, and she was wearing somewhat of makeup- though with those bright blue eyes, I couldn't tell- her beauty distracted me from noticing.

_"I, um, don't really go here very often…" she was trying to explain, probably because she knew I was going to ask her about where to find something specifically, but I probably looked like an idiot just staring at her, she was getting scared; but all she did was smile more and fixed her shirt a bit since it was coming up a little. I thought it looked just fine._

_"Wow..." was all I was able to get out of my mouth after trying for a moment to think of something to say to her. She laughed- man, that was all I needed to make my day. I nodded leisurely and leaned into the wall to make myself seem more tuff; that only made her smile even more so than she had before. I wondered if she was interested in what I had in mind…_

That was probably one of the greatest days of my life- when a young man finds a nice and lovely young girl who was attractive and stunning in every way possible, and Sandy was a whole lot cleaner than the other greasy girls in the neighborhood; but it made me ache inside. Sherri is better by far; she stayed by me through everything- even after her boyfriend died and those few awkward moments with Ponyboy, it still worked out. Ponyboy did like her. And I guess I wished Sandy the same happy ending I had with Sherri and my family.

I walked on longer, slowing down and reminiscing about all of my favored memories every time I passed by a specific building or area- even by the DX, I remembered Steve. Steve and I had so many strange conversations during work hours at the gas station. It made me smile to know that some were just that insane for me to still remember at the age I was at now; I don't know if you know this, but when you're my age you tend to start to forget about a lot of things.

So there I was, striding down the sidewalk slowly, laughing, being sober, sometimes looking confused and laughing more- otherwise, making people, mostly adults walking out of stores, stop and stare at me like I was the craziest man on the planet; I am, but I didn't actually want them to think that without having a good reason to go along with it. They'd need to get to know me, first. But they'd learn in the future that sometimes being crazy was a good thing.

"Soda?" I heard someone cry out incredulously, and forgetting about where I truly was, I turned around from force of habit. I looked around, searching for a somewhat familiar face that could've been the one to call me. _I really need to get a grip and make sure that if I begin to look around for whoever it was that called me, that it is done discreetly, _I told myself firmly. After a while, finding not one familiar face amongst the teens and adults walking on the sidewalk, I shrugged it off and turned back to continue on in my journey along memory lane; but before I turned and continued with walking on, my name was called again.

"What?" I said irritably underneath my breath, this time looking for the past Soda that may be around and I just didn't notice it- but instead, I found Ponyboy- my Ponyboy from my original time- running towards me. He was casually dressed and looked like he'd been through a twister- his hair was messed up and he was wearing his clothes quite humorously. I blinked in shock and just stood there, even after Pony gave me a big hug.

"Wha-What are you doing here?" I almost shouted; this has to be some kind of twisted dream that I really need to wake up from. Ponyboy released me and then smiled, studying me from head to toe.

"I can't believe you're here!" Pony said, keeping his voice low, looking around him. Some people were staring, even a police officer who was right next to his car. I just waved nicely and then dragged Pony along in the direction I was going, walking as casually as I could.

"Ponyboy, I know you may think- wait, you didn't answer my question, why are you here? How did you get here?" I was firing questions one after the other, all technically the same question, at him. I felt kind of bad that I kept asking questions but I was feeling very weird and confused just then and I needed answers, stat.

"I dunno… I just ended up here- at Buck's, actually!" Ponyboy replied. I felt my eyes bulge.

"Buck's? Really?" I never liked Buck Merril… Darry didn't either, but Ponyboy always seemed to be over there at the most best of times.

"It's not like I wanted to go there- and I'm married! You know, married guys don't have to put up through this over-protective stuff! That's what wives are for!" Pony said, defending himself. I just rolled my eyes.

"I'm telling on you," I said flatly. Pony looked at me pleadingly. He knew as well as I did that his wife wouldn't just slapped him upside the head for the comment he had just made; I knew how to get him good.

"Please don't!" I decided it'd be better not to say anything- besides, we may be stuck here after all, just me and him.

"Yeah, okay, whatever- This might be a shock but-"

"We're in 1966, not 1982?" he interrupted. I looked at him incredulously.

"How'd you know?" Ponyboy is smart, but I mean, really? The guy gets things faster than even Darry does sometimes, and that's a true miracle all on it's own.

"Landed at Buck's, remember? Saw Dallas run out crazily, and realized that he wasn't… well, you know, old!" I just laughed and shook my head.

"Well I had it worse!" I was trying to top off his story- mostly to calm myself down about the whole situation.

"How'd you find out?" Pony asked curiously; and he's always curious about everything. I prepped myself, and took a few minutes before explaining everything that had happened, beginning with the car crash. I elaborated on the part where they wanted to take me to the hospital since I didn't seem to 'remember' anything, and the fact that I gave them money and how they had reacted. It was funny to see his reaction to every small detail and side-story I brought up throughout the whole tale.

"Wow! Well, first off, I'm glad you're ok, and second, I can't believe that not even I couldn't recognize you- I mean, the younger me, you know?" I nodded, agreeing with him. Ponyboy could always tell his family and friends apart from the rest of the crowd, even if we were all scattered amongst a huge mob of people at the local mall or something; I guess it was a talent that came with being so smart all the time.

"We all looked so young, it startled me a bit that, even though we're back in time, we'd go back that far!" Pony nodded in agreement with me this time, and looked back and around him anxiously.

"So, what do we do now?" Ponyboy was older, but asking that question made him sound like his younger self- the part of him that never quite knew how to do things no matter how simple it seemed to be. I thought for a moment.

"I don't really know… but I'm thinking about it… We've gotta mull this over and think real hard about our every move and where we go. I know that, without a doubt, we have to stay away from our past selves, that way it'll eliminate any suspicion between us and the … other us… second, we need to find somewhere to live…. But we need money…" Pony just nodded quietly, and we continued walking around Tulsa, avoiding people we even seldom knew- especially the gang, younger gang.

"I'm kind of hungry…" Pony sighed, searching through his pockets for money of some sort. "All I got is five bucks and some change…" Ponyboy said disappointedly. I shrugged, and tried searching through my own pockets this time. I had my credit card, but it would be useless in this time since, in reality, I hadn't made the account yet. Finally, I managed to find a spare crumpled five dollar bill. Our faces lit up a bit and I smiled, thanking the heavens that we could both at least eat something; good thing was, was since this was 1966, there would be much better pricing on things; bad news was that we were nowhere near having enough money to get a good place to stay, even just for a little while. With that in mind, another thing came up that was of equal importance to both Ponyboy and myself which was: What about work?


	4. NOTICE

The Outsiders EXPERT-101

July 26th, Tuesday: 2011

WORK IN PROGRESS NOTICE

Hey, guys i am sooo sorry I've got a lot to catch up on but I will be continuing on all my stories and finishing them for you guys 'cause you're all so awesome and have been so patient I love you guys for supporting me in my writing; I've just had other things to get done and I'm trying to plot out the rest of my storylines in ALL of my stories so thanks for waiting!

Personal apologies for those who asked me to write stories for them I will get to that and after all is done I've got a little surprise for you all so thanks for reading!

3Britt


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